The following advice is designed to help you to respond appropriately and safely to enquiries received via Findafurry. Please remember that rude responses are not helpful in any circumstances.

1) Respond to everyone!
Please respond to all enquiries as soon as you can - even if they don't appear to be the sort of new home you were looking for.

2) Be aware of communication problems
Remember that some people may not have good written skills, or might not find communication easy. Do not discount an enquiry just because it is short or seems a little abrupt. If you suspect the writer might have communication difficulties consider asking whether they'd prefer you to give them a call.

3) Meet people directly
You should always aim to meet potential new owners - and don't feel you have to hand over the animal if you are not happy. Ideally you should aim to see their home, but we understand this is not always possible. If you cannot do a home check, you could ask to see a photo of where the animal will be living.

4) Ask questions
Don't feel embarrassed about asking lots of questions - and expect them to do the same. Ask them about their knowledge of the animal, where they will keep it, what they will feed it and about other family members and what they feel about the new pet. If you think they need to learn a bit more about caring for their new pet then try to assist them in doing so - either chat to them about it or point them in the direction of a helpful website or forum. As long as they are willing to learn before getting their new pet, lack of knowledge shouldn't always put you off.

5) Make sure they can contact you in the future
Once you have rehomed your pet, make sure that your pet's new owner knows they can contact you in the future if they need help or advice. Give them your contact details - consider leaving them your phone number in case there is an emergency. You might want to drop them a line after a few weeks to check everything is going ok.

You've received a message via the site that just isn't suitable, what do you do?

If you can't help the person, try to point them in the direction of someone who might be able to. It might be a good idea to point people in the direction of a forum or local rescue centre. Or simply encourage them to keep checking Findafurry in case a more suitable advert appears. If people are discouraged, they are likely to turn to their local pet shop.

If you think that the person is looking for a pet for the wrong reasons - you suspect they may be 'collecting' animals, looking for snake food or looking to breed unethically, then drop us a line - we can alert other advertisers if needs be. Still make sure that you respond to them politely though - your suspicions could be unfounded and you don't want to risk causing offence - whether intentional or not!

Staying safe when advertising online

Whilst advertising online has a lot of benefits - especially as it allows individuals to rehome animals without needing to go through a pet shop or rescue centre, it can carry risks - even for adults. These can be minimised by taking a few simple precautions. Findafurry does not allow advertisers to include their phone number or email address in the text of their advert. Instead, people who would like to respond to your advert do so via a form that does not show your email address. This is because of two things - firstly, spam-bots who trawl the internet looking for email addresses and secondly, nutters. The first is annoying, the second is clearly a lot worse.

• When you respond to an enquiry, don't give your address or phone number until you feel comfortable to do so. Always be polite.
• Make sure that the email address you use is not checked by children
• If you arrange for someone to come and collect an animal, make sure you are not alone in the house, or tell a friend that you are expecting a visitor and arrange for them to call if they've not heard from you by a certain time.
• If you arrange to visit someone in their own home, ideally make sure you take another adult with you. If that is not possible, leave the details of where you are going with a friend and arrange a time by which you should have called to say it went ok.